Braintree Town boss Alan Devonshire says he is unlikely to go looking for another loan player ahead of tomorrow’s Blue Square Bet Premier home game against Kidderminster Harriers.

The Iron manager has seen young midfielder Britt Assombalonga recalled by his parent club Watford after a series of good performances while on loan
at the Amlin Stadium, Braintree.

The 19-year-old was particularly impressive in last week’s 3-1 win against Gateshead, when he scored twice, and Devonshire admitted losing him would be a blow, but he is unlikely to go looking for
a replacement just yet.

Devonshire said: “I had agreed a 28-day extension to Britt’s loan, but there was a 24-hour recall within that and Watford have used that to get him back.

“But he is going to be involved in their first-team, so good luck to him.

“It does affect my plans as he played really well when he was with us and gave us a nice balance.

“Not having him will hurt us, but then it gives a chance to another player to come in and grab the place.

“I won’t do anything to replace Britt before the weekend and I’ll leave it until next week before concentrating on whether to do anything or not.”

Devonshire said it may give an opportunity for some of the club’s own up-and-coming young players to stake a claim for a senior role.

The Iron boss has named a few reserve-team players on his bench in recent games, but added they will have to prove to him that they can make the transition if they want to force their way more
fully into his plans before the end of the season.

He said: “It depends on circumstances whether I use them or not.

“We want to push on and finish as high as we can and we don’t want the season to peter out.

“I’ll be taking a closer look at them in training to gauge their fitness and if they will be good enough to make the step up.”

The Braintree players were given a night off training on Tuesday to allow a few to recover from knocks picked up in a recent hectic schedule and Devonshire said he expected a couple of players to
come back into contention for the visit of Kidderminster.

He said skipper Kenny Davis had recovered from the hamstring problem that had sidelined him for the last three games, while Ryan Peters is back available after missing four games with a dead leg.

See the paper next week for a report, pictures and reaction from the Iron's game against Kidderminster.